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Manipur simmers as protests over students’ killings heat up
At least 25 students were injured in Imphal on Wednesday as large crowds clashed with police in Manipur during protests over the killing of a 20-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl who went missing two months ago.
At least 25 students were injured in Imphal on Wednesday as large crowds clashed with police in Manipur during protests over the killing of a 20-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl who went missing two months ago, two days after photographs of their apparently lifeless bodies went viral on social media.
The developments came on a day the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act or Afspa was extended for another six months in the state, barring 19 police stations in the Imphal valley.
A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team, led by special director Ajay Bhatnagar, reached Imphal on Wednesday afternoon to investigate the case even as chief minister N Biren Singh appealed for calm. “This is a sad incident and it is highly condemnable that what the Kuki militants have done is the highest level of crime...I want to promise to the people of Manipur that we will make sure the culprit is given maximum punishment,” Singh said.
The 20-year-old man and the 17-year-old girl – both residents of Imphal – were last seen together on July 6. Manipur Police said an initial probe revealed that the missing duo may have got trapped in an area dominated by the Kuki community while fleeing, after which they were allegedly abducted and murdered. The probe also revealed that a day after the two went missing, a new SIM card was inserted in the man’s mobile phone that was activated in Lamdan, a Kuki-dominated area, on July 7, a police officer said, asking not to be named.
On September 25, two days after the state government restored internet services, photos of the couple surfaced on social media. One showed them sitting on the ground in what appears to be a forest with two armed men in the background, and another showed them apparently lying dead on the ground. The man’s head appeared to be missing in the photograph and the woman’s face is not visible. The two are wearing the same clothes as seen in the first photograph. Their faces are not visible in the second photograph. HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the photographs.
Hours after the photos went viral on social media and stoked unrest, the state government suspended mobile internet and data services through VPN for five days on Tuesday evening.
On Wednesday, hundreds of students spilled out on to the streets of Imphal, protesting against the killing. Several were injured in tear-gas shelling and lathi charge by police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel at Moirangkhom in Imphal West. Officials in Imphal said protesters also pelted stones. Similar protests were witnessed in other areas such as Thangmeiband and Kanglapat.
Protests rocked Imphal East, Imphal West, Bishnupur, Thoubal and Kakching, all located in the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley.
“I am very saddened by the injuries suffered by numerous students and some others who were expressing their shock, anger, helplessness against the brutal killing of their fellow students...I appeal to all students to trust the government and carry on with their studies, despite all odds, so that an academic year is not lost,” Manipur education minister T Basanta Kumar Singh said.
A team of 20 representatives of protesting students met Singh later and submitted a memorandum of demands, including the arrests of those responsible for the killings within 30 days and the lifting of the ban on mobile internet. A mob burnt down an office of the Bharatiya Janata Party at Khongjam in Thoubal district but district officials said no one was injured.
“Yesterday, Union home minister Amit Shahji directly called me and told me that he is sending a CBI team to investigate the case,” Singh said, “This case has to be dealt with seriously and those culprits have to be booked as per law of the land and no one will be spared.”
Authorities also tightened the curfew in Imphal East and Imphal West districts, rolling back an earlier order relaxing prohibitory orders. “In supersession of earlier order...it is hereby informed to the general public that curfew relaxation in respect of Imphal East district from 5 am to 9 pm...is hereby cancelled with immediate effect,” said the order issued by K Diana Devi, district magistrate of Imphal East district. A similar order issued by N Johnson Meetei, additional district magistrate of Imphal West, said the relaxation of curfew was cancelled “due to developing law and order condition in the district and to prevent untoward incidents and loss of life and property”.
The Manipur government also decided to maintain status quo on the existing disturbed area status and extended Afspa for another six months with effect from October 1. “The state government is of the opinion after analysing the prevailing law and order situation in the state that it is not expedient to have detailed assessment on the ground as sister security agencies are preoccupied in maintenance of law and order,” the notification issued by home commissioner T Ranjit Singh read.
The police station areas outside the purview of the stringent law are Imphal, Lamphel, City, Singjamei, Sekmai, Lamsang, Patsoi, Wangoi, Porompat, Heingang, Lamlai, Iribung, Leimakhong, Thoubal, Bishnupur, Nambol, Moirang, Kakchin and Jirbam – all dominated by the majority Meitei community. This means the Army and Assam Rifles cannot operate in these areas without the consent of the state police.
Clashes in Manipur first broke out on May 3 in Churachandpur town after tribal groups called for protests against a proposed tweak to the state’s reservation matrix, granting Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the Meitei community.
At least 175 people have died and another 50,000 displaced.
“It is unfortunate. Be it Meitei or Kuki-Zo, both sides have suffered high casualties. Violence should be condemned,” said Ginza Vualzong, spokesperson of the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum, an umbrella body of tribal groups. “The government should announce President’s rule to save lives in Manipur.”
